


I Don't Have You To Kiss Now

by floralknight



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Other, Post-Episode: s01e18 Juno Steel and the Final Resting Place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:13:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22667569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floralknight/pseuds/floralknight
Summary: The day after Peter Nureyev saves Mars, he wakes up to an empty bed.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	I Don't Have You To Kiss Now

The day after Peter Nureyev saves Mars, he wakes up to an empty bed. He calls out a name and receives no answer, only crushing silence. Pulling the blanket over his head, Nureyev tries to swallow the lump in his throat. He curses himself for hoping that things would actually work out, that he would finally have a partner once again after so many years on his own. He scolds himself for letting that detective into his heart. He should have known that a sinner like him doesn’t deserve a happy ending like that. The master thief knows he has to push forward, get ready for the day and make it on time for the flight he has tickets for (what he’ll do with the second ticket, he doesn’t know). Even though he knows he has to pack all of these feelings up and stow them away in the safe labeled ‘Reasons I Work Alone’, he still lets himself linger on what had happened just hours before.

_The pair stumbled into the hotel room, battered and bruised from two weeks spent in hell. Juno had been checked out at a nearby hospital, but unfortunately, his eye was damaged beyond repair. Peter was able to dodge telling the truth of their injuries and disheveled appearances while Juno was in the operating room, though he didn’t remember what he had said. The entire time he spent in that hospital waiting room was a blur of exhaustion and worry. When Juno was finally given a shiny new eyepatch and finally discharged, Peter directed them to a nearby hotel._

_Despite the urge to collapse into bed, they took turns showering and shaving. Once they were done they breathed a sigh of relief. Other than the horrible bags under their eyes and the fact that they were definitely much skinnier than when they started the heist, Juno and Peter were finally back to normal. Their energy that had been fueled by the desperate need to get rid of any sign of that horrible bunker finally drained away, though, and they slumped into bed, exhausted beyond words. Peter nearly cried tears of joy as he felt the plush mattress beneath him for the first time in what felt like an eternity. As desperately as he wanted to sleep, though, Peter also wanted to stay awake to be with the lady in the bed next to him._

_They talked for a few minutes, Peter comforted Juno about his eye and asked the detective once again if he was sure about leaving with him. Peter’s heart felt so full when Juno reassured him that yes, he wanted to see the stars with him, to travel to new worlds and witness all the sights the galaxy has to offer. Peter could tell that it was a hard decision to make, he knew how much Mars meant to Juno. The detective had spent his entire life in Hyperion City and was now suddenly dropping everything to leave with Peter._

_Their conversation soon devolved into lingering kisses and soft declarations of love. The rest of their evening was spent like that until their weariness finally took hold and they fell asleep in each other’s arms. It was the best sleep Peter had gotten in years. Juno was like a walking space heater, perfect to cuddle up to in the cool air of the hotel room, and his strong arms around Peter made the thief feel safer than he had ever felt in his entire life._

_Peter didn’t know what time it was when a rustling of the sheets woke him. He was still half asleep, not even opening his eyes fully when he moved his arm over to Juno’s side of the bed and making a confused sound when he felt nothing. The mattress shifted and he heard the quiet padding of footsteps on the hotel’s wood floor. The thief called out Juno’s name softly in the darkness, wanting nothing more than to curl back up against him and fall back asleep. He figured the detective just needed to use the bathroom or something, so he turned over and drifted back off, sure that the detective would return shortly._

Peter curses himself for not getting up when Juno had. He knows there was no way he could have stopped him, he had told the detective he wouldn’t try to, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t regret not going after Juno when he had the chance. Juno had left, and while Peter knows he could track him down, he doesn’t think his heart could take it or that it would make any difference. Maybe Juno has finally decided Peter isn’t worth it, that he deserves so much more than a thief with no name. Peter knows that probably isn’t the case, that Juno just isn’t able to let go of his home, but the thought of not being enough for the detective still makes his heart shatter. He wants desperately to run to Juno’s office and beg on his knees for him to stay by Peter’s side or even just to say goodbye, but he can’t. _What’s done is done_ , he tells himself sternly, _there’s no going back now_.

Peter knows he has to move on and keep going forward. He has a life to live, with or without a certain detective in it. He pushes himself out of the cold hotel bed, the once warm and inviting sheets now suffocating. Not a single tear falls down his face, there’s no time for that. He dresses in a crisp, new outfit and ignores the freshly steamed crimson dress hanging next to it in the closet. After applying a full face of makeup that feels more like a shield than anything else, Peter is ready to face the world. He collects his things and steps out of the room. There’s a sense of finality as he exits the hotel and heads to the port. He glues the pieces of his heart back together and builds walls around it reinforced with the strongest steel, never to be broken down again. The thief enters the ship and takes one last look at Hyperion City, admiring the skyline one final time before he leaves it behind forever. 

Finally, Peter Nureyev takes all of his memories of Juno, his crooked smile, the way that smile felt against Peter’s lips, the addicting sound of his voice, all of them, and files them away.

_For future consideration._

**Author's Note:**

> Angst Lord back at it with the heartbreak babie!! I had to read through the transcript of Final Resting Place for this and I definitely got pretty choked up about it :"(  
> This is my first finished Penumbra Podcast fic so I hope I did it justice!! Ya'll I really love these space gays a lot :")  
> As always comments and kudos are appreciated!! You can find me on [my twitter](https://twitter.com/lovelynakahara?s=09), [my tumblr](https://lovelynakahara.tumblr.com/) and [my podcast tumblr](https://lovelyblupjeans.tumblr.com/)!!


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